After the disaster at the Novi Sad railway station in the capital of Serbia, a crowd of protesters demanded the resignation of the Minister of Construction. Due to the collapse of the roof of the recently renovated building, 14 people died, and three others are fighting for their lives. Some of the demonstrators painted their hands with red colors, assuming that the authorities have the blood of the victims on their hands.
Several hundred people took part in the protest held in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure. Demonstrators demanded responsibility for the deaths of 14 people, including the resignation of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesic, who along with dozens of others was questioned at the prosecutor's office on Saturday.
Protesters carried slogans that read “Crime, not tragedy”, “Corruption kills” and “Absolute power, absolute responsibility”. Some of them have painted their hands with red color, stating that they “symbolically tell the authorities that there is blood on their hands.” Demonstrators left red handprints on the walls of state institutions.
SEE: The roof of the railway station collapsed on the pedestrians. Record
Serbia. Protest in Belgrade after the tragedy in Novi Sad
The roof of the station in Novi Sad collapsed
Part of the roof of the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed on Friday afternoon. 14 people died, three people are still fighting for their lives in the hospital.
The station was opened in July this year after a general renovation by the Chinese consortium CRIC&CCCC (China Railway International Co.Ltd and China Communications Construction Company Ltd). Serbian State Railways, the Chinese company and Minister Vesic announced that the collapsed part of the roof was not the subject of recent restoration work. However, the engineer who worked on the repair of the station and the records obtained by the Serbian media contradict these claims. The reasons for the collapse of the roof are still unknown.
Main photo credit: EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC
